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Register To Vote

Register to Vote

Voter Registration in Georgia

Register to vote because your vote really does count. Did you know…?

1845 One vote made Texas the 28th State.

1868 One vote saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment.

1876 One vote was the margin that made Rutherford Hayes our 19th President.

1939 One vote passed the Selective Service Act.

1960 One vote per precinct, average, made John F. Kennedy our 35th President.

Register to Vote in Georgia

Georgia Voter Registration Highlights:

  • Must be a citizen of the United States
  • Must be a legal resident of Georgia and of the county in which you wish to vote
  • Must be at least 18 years old within 90 days of voter registration
  • Must not be a convicted felon (unless unconditionally discharged)
  • Must not be judicially determined to be of unsound mind, unless the disability has been removed
  • Must not be registered to vote in another State
  • Must register at least 30 days prior to Election Day

Georgia citizens have access to several convenient methods of registering to vote:

  • Download and complete a voter registration application.
  • Contact your local county board of registrars’ office or election office, public library, public assistance office, recruitment office, schools and other government offices for a mail-in registration form.
  • E-mail your request for a voter registration form to us, or write us at Office of the Secretary of State, Elections Division, Suite 1104 West Tower, 2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30334-1505. Please include your name and mailing address.
  • Registration is offered when you renew or apply for your driver’s license at Department of Motor Vehicle Safety drivers license posts.
  • College students can obtain Georgia voter registration forms, or the necessary forms to register in any state in the U.S., from their school registrar’s office or from the office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs.

A History of the Right to Register to VoteThe right to register to vote is a right that groups have had to fight to achieve over the past two hundred years. When the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788 very few citizens were allowed to vote. Thomas Jefferson argued that every citizen should “have an equal voice in the government’s direction.” However, only white male property owners of at least 21 years of age were given the right to vote.

A few years later the right to vote was extended to all white males at least 21 years old, regardless of property holdings or religion. But the rest of Americans would have to wait many years to be able to register to vote.In 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott helped to convene the world’s first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. A Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions was signed by 68 women and 32 men. It proclaimed that “all men and women are equal.”

In 1866 The American Equal Rights Association was founded, advocating women’s suffrage. In 1869 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony began publishing The Revolution, an important periodical in the women’s movement.A step forward in voter registration occurred in 1870 when the 15th Amendment to the Constitution extended to African American males the right to register to vote. The amendment did not specifically prohibit the extension of the right to vote to women, and numerous women attempted to vote in several states. The Territory of Utah, not yet a State, gave the right to vote to women in 1870.

In 1872 Susan B. Anthony and several supporters were arrested for voting. Ms. Anthony refused to pay her bail and lost her case the following year.Progress on women’s suffrage was slow for the next 40 years. In 1886 a suffrage amendment was defeated by the U.S. Senate by a 2 to 1 margin. In 1894 a suffrage petition with 600,000 signatures was ignored in New York.

In 1911 California granted women’s suffrage. In 1913 the Alaskan Territory granted voter registration to women. Illinois granted partial voting rights to women the same year.In 1917 many women protesters were arrested and jailed. North Dakota, Indiana, Nebraska, Michigan, Arkansas, New York, South Dakota, and Oklahoma granted suffrage to women.

In 1919 the 19th Amendment, called the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, was passed, and in 1920 it was ratified and became law.In 1924 further voter registration progress was made when American Indians were granted citizenship and the right to vote, thus extending voter rights to essentially all Americans.

The Civil Rights Act of 1960 reaffirmed voter registration rights to all Americans.The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed literacy tests and poll taxes which had prevented African Americans and other minorities from being able to register to vote.

In 1970 the 25th Amendment was ratified and lowered the voting age for all Americans to 18.In 1993 the National Voter Registration Act, sometimes called the Motor Voter Bill, made it possible for citizens to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.